Legend of Faye
by Niesse
Summary: Don't worry, she knows what she's doing. She's really very good.
1. Chapter 1

It was raining in Celadon. The pokémon centre was packed, as it always was when the weather was bad. The second-largest city in Kanto had a pokémon centre no bigger than any of the others.

A small table by the window had three teenagers sitting at it. Lily, Zeke and Ben had been too late to get a room for the night, and were discussing what to do next.

"We can stay here," Ben said. "We'll just be in sleeping bags on the floor."

"Along with every ten-year-old in Celadon," Zeke said, waving his hand at a particularly loud group of children. "A bit more privacy might be nice."

"I can't afford a hotel," Lily said. "And you can't either, unless you've just had a rich aunt die or something. I think we'll have to stay here."

"If it stops raining, it should be dry enough by tomorrow night for the tent," Ben said. "You can go without your sleep-in for one day, can't you?"

"Oh, all right, one night with the ankle-biters, and then — hey, is that a pelipper?"

Ben rubbed a clear patch in the fogged-up glass of the window. "It's awfully big for a pelipper."

A girl — about their age, sixteen or seventeen — slid off the pokémon's back, recalled it and made a dash for the centre's door. She went straight to the front desk and handed over some pokéballs. As the nurse set them in the healing machine, the girl looked around for somewhere to sit out the few minutes' wait, saw the empty seat next to Zeke, and trotted over. "Hi," she said. "I'm Faye. Mind if I sit here?" Nobody did, and she slid into the seat.

Lily and the boys introduced themselves. "Are you staying here tonight?" Zeke asked.

Faye nodded. "I was going to challenge Erika, but I think it's a bit late." She ran her fingers through her short, damp hair. "And wet."

"There's no rooms left," Zeke warned her.

She grimaced. "I thought there might not be. Oh well. It's dry. What are you guys here for?"

"The gym," Ben said. Lily groaned and buried her head in her hands theatrically.

"It was tougher than we expected," Zeke admitted.

"What are _you_ complaining about?" Lily grumbled. "You won."

Ben patted her on the back. "You just need to train your growlithe a bit more."

"You've got a growlithe?" Faye said. "Are you going to evolve it? You shouldn't have any trouble with an arcanine."

"I want to train him up a bit first," Lily said. "I haven't had him very long."

"She's been relying on her beedrill," Ben said.

"My beedrill is _awesome_," Lily said. "He helped me win five badges. You're all jealous of my beedrill."

"Five badges and you're only just getting to Erika?" Faye asked.

"Yeah," Lily said. "We just haven't... gotten around to her before. How many have you got?"

"Seven," Faye said. "So it's just — oh, hang on."

The nurse was waving at her. She walked over and he gave her back a handful of pokéballs, but kept hold of one ultraball, looking concerned. "I'm not sure you should... have this one," he said.

"I caught it perfectly legally," Faye said, her hand out expectantly.

"No, I'm sure you did. It's just... you're awfully young, and... perhaps a bit more experienced-"

"Oh, is that all?" Faye said. "It's fine. I know what I'm doing. Here, look." She pulled her badge case out of her pocket and flipped it open. "And this ball has a nidoking in it. I've got plenty of experience with difficult pokémon." She held her hand out again. "Can I have my pokémon back, please?"

The nurse started to pass the ultraball to her, but stopped halfway. "This isn't really the same..."

"It's fine." Faye leaned over the counter and took the ultraball from his hand. "I know what I'm doing." He still looked unhappy, but didn't try to stop her.

"You've got a nidoking?" Zeke said, when Faye sat back down at the table. "What's it like training one?"

"He can be a handful. I think the trick is to catch them as nidoran and make sure they respect you before they evolve. Are you thinking of getting one?"

"No, I've got a nidoqueen. I thought a female would be easier to raise."

Zeke and Faye chatted about their pokémon for a while, and as they did Faye pulled off her belt and began to rearrange her pokéballs. "What's in the ultraball?" Lily asked when Faye and Zeke seemed to be finished.

Faye grinned. "This is my secret weapon. Erika's beat me once before, but-" She tapped the ultraball. "-she won't this time."

"Yeah, but what is it?" Lily said. "Some sort of fire-type?"

Faye leaned forwards and lowered her voice. "Better. It's an articuno."

"An _articuno_?" Zeke exclaimed.

Several ten-year-olds appeared by Faye's side. "Have you got an _articuno_?" one of them said. "Can we see it?"

"Please?" another one added.

"I don't know," Faye said. "I've only just caught it, it's probably-"

"Please please please?" a girl begged. "We've never seen one before. Please?"

"Clear this side," came a call from one of the centre staff. "We're bringing out extra tables. Make room, trainers!"

"After dinner, kids," Faye said. "Go on, get out of the way."

The four teenagers stayed where they were, as they were not in the way, while the staff carried in and set up some trestle tables and chairs. "You've really got an articuno?" said Ben after a while.

"Yep," Faye said. "I was looking for seel in the Seafoam Islands cave a couple of days ago and I saw it, and I thought, _that's an ice type_. So I caught it."

"How?" Ben said. "I heard they're impossible to catch."

"Not impossible," Faye said. "Just really, really hard. I must have gone through at least thirty ultraballs, but it was worth it."

"Was it, though?" Zeke said, widening his eyes dramatically. "You hear all those stories about the birds, you know, and myths have to start somewhere..."

"It's a rare, powerful pokémon," Faye said cheerfully, "but it's still just a pokémon. It's not supernaturally amazing. Trust me, I battled it."

"Dinner, trainers!" one of the staff yelled, and the conversation was put on hold.

After everyone had eaten, the tables had been put away and the floor had been given a quick vacuum to pick up any dropped food, the gang of children found Faye again. They'd been joined by several others. "Can we see it now?" a boy said. "Please?"

"Okay," Faye said. "Give me some space, then."

The kids backed up into a wide circle around Faye. This did not go unnoticed. "What's going on?" a girl of about thirteen asked one of the boys.

"She's showing us an articuno!" he announced. More heads turned. Soon Faye was in the middle of a crowd of dozens.

"Give me _space_," she said again, more loudly. "This is a big pokémon, if you want me to show you it I need room!" She shooed the onlookers into a bigger circle, then pulled the ultraball off her belt. "Ready?" She popped the ball open.

In a brilliant flash of white and yellow light, the articuno materialised. It wasn't much taller than any of the staring trainers — shorter than some adults — but it seemed much taller. Its long tail streamers drifted around its legs, and its icy blue feathers seemed to glitter. Those closest to it found themselves shivering. "Wow," someone breathed, and its head whipped around. Its fierce gaze found Faye. It spread its huge wings, its streamers billowing forward as though in a sudden wind, and disappeared.

Faye clipped the ultraball back to her belt. "Show's over, guys."

One of the staff, a middle-aged, dark-haired woman, pushed her way through the crowd. "Pokémon away, please! All pokémon in their pokéballs!" She raised her voice. "If you've booked a room, you might want to consider going there! Anyone else, if you need to borrow a sleeping bag, talk to me! You have five minutes to have all your pokémon _away_, trainers!" The crowd thinned as some people left for their rooms and there was the intermittent light of trainers recalling their pokémon. Lily claimed a patch of floor against the wall and waved the others over.

"That's a... very impressive pokémon," Ben said as they laid out their sleeping bags.

"Why'd you recall it so fast?" Lily said.

Faye looked away. "Well, I haven't really had the chance to tame it yet. It's probably not safe to have it out around people for more than a few seconds."

"Aren't you going to challenge Erika with it?"

Faye laughed. "Yeah, but I'll spend a few days with it outside the city first. I do have _some _patience."

"You're the girl with the articuno, aren't you?" The dark-haired woman who'd wanted everyone's pokémon away was standing over them.

Faye looked up. "Yes? I'm not going to let it out inside again, don't worry."

The woman frowned. "Have you talked to anyone about it? Perhaps someone with a bit more experience?"

Faye sighed. "Look, I know what I'm doing. I understand you think I'm young, but I've got plenty of experience with powerful pokémon. I promise if I think it'll give me trouble I'll ask a gym leader for help or something, okay?"

"I'm glad to hear that-" Two younger trainers interrupted her at the same time.

"Can we please have some sleeping bags?" asked one, a girl.

"We can't tell which caterpie's mine and which one's his!" the other, a boy, said tearfully.

"All right, I'll be with you in a moment," the woman said.

"I can sort out your caterpie, if you like," Faye said, getting up. She followed the boy back to his problem, and after a moment the woman sighed and led the girl away.

"I wish I had an articuno," Ben said. "Even if it means adults fussing about it constantly."

"You're lucky to have _seen_ one," Zeke said.

Lily wriggled down into her sleeping bag. "I want to see it in action. If it's anywhere near as strong as it looks, it'll be amazing."

A few minutes later, Faye was back. "Can we come with you tomorrow, when you're training the articuno?" Lily asked her.

"Sure, I guess," Faye said with a shrug. "Just keep your wits about you. Like I said, it's not really tame."

"It didn't look too happy with you, before," Zeke said.

"It always looks angry," Faye said. "It's the beak. I'm going to leave pretty early, before all the little kidlets decide to follow us, okay?"

"Lights out in fifteen minutes!" called one of the staff.

Lily yawned. "I'm going to get my beauty sleep, then. Goodnight, all."

Around midnight, the rain stopped.


	2. Chapter 2

Everyone got up early the next morning, when the centre staff kicked them out of the room to put the tables back. The boys had left, Zeke to have a shower and Ben to help set up for breakfast, and Lily and Faye were plotting strategy together when the dark-haired woman came looking for Faye again.

She led her aside to have another talk, but they were interrupted almost immediately. "Suzanne!" the young woman behind the counter called, holding the videophone handset against her chest. "I think you need to see this!"

The dark-haired woman sighed and went to answer. Faye followed her, and, feeling nosy, Lily sidled over too. Standing against the wall beside the counter, they could see who was on the phone's screen: Erika, uncharacteristically agitated, the image intermittently freezing and jumping. "What was that?" Suzanne said. "Yes, yes, of course, but can you-" The connection had broken entirely. She hit the _call back _button, but the screen remained blank.

Lily glanced at Faye. Her eyes were bright with excitement and she was running her hand along her belt.

"Trainers!" Suzanne yelled. She was standing on the counter now, and everyone stopped what they were doing to listen. "Erika needs anyone with powerful rock, ground, water and electric-types to go to the gym, now."

"Why the types grass's strong against?" a boy called back.

"She didn't get a chance to say," Suzanne said, "but I'm sure it's important."

"What's happened?" Zeke said. Lily jumped; she hadn't seen him beside her.

"Erika wants us for something," Faye said. "You coming?"

There was a sudden yell from the southwest corner. A girl waved wildly out the window. "Look, look!"

On the other side of the city, in the sky above the gym, a cloud of smoke was rising.

There was a rush to the window, and to the door. Suzanne leaped off the counter and blocked the door. "No-one under fourteen is leaving this building until we know what's going on! Because it's probably dangerous, that's why. Older trainers! Erika needs help! Water, ground, rock, electric-types!"

"Come on!" Faye said, and the three of them pushed past the younger children. Most of the older trainers were heading for the gym, with Suzanne watching to make sure no little kids sneaked out. Faye met her eyes, and she sighed but waved them out.

Faye let her big pelipper out of its pokéball. "I'll see you there!" she said, scrambling onto its back, and then she was gone over the rooftops. Others were doing the same — a few kids on pidgeot, a boy with a charizard — and some were letting out rapidash or dodrio and racing away along the street.

Zeke popped open his fearow's ball. "Want a lift?" he said.

"No thanks," Lily said. "I'll walk with Ben." Zeke nodded and took off.

Ben came out a moment later and he and Lily set off west at a light jog. An arcanine blew past them, swift as the wind and almost silent. Lily thought of her growlithe and wished yet again that she'd caught it earlier. They'd reached the game corner and were turning south when Zeke's fearow landed in front of them.

"There's a moltres attacking the gym!" he gasped. "They're putting out the fire and there's some trainers trying to hold off the moltres but it's _really tough_... Here." He tossed Lily a pokéball. "It's my blastoise. Ben, can I borrow your gyara?"

"Sure." Ben unclipped the ball and passed it to Zeke. "Be careful."

"Just hurry, okay?" Zeke said, and urged the fearow back into the sky.

Lily looked at Ben. "Should we be riding?"

He touched the greatball on his belt. "Yeah. Damn."

... ... ... ...

Zeke's fearow flew over Celadon, back to the aerial battle he had just left. A dozen kids on a motley collection of flying-types were harassing a great fiery bird, sending little twisters and gusts of air at it and not really accomplishing anything more than irritating it. It was just too strong, too big — with its billowing flames and heat shimmer making it appear even larger — and too hot. It was impossible to get close enough to do any real damage without being driven back by the roasting heat, so the trainers were forced to keep a safe distance. Except for one. Faye, on her pelipper, was in much closer, and it looked like she was doing more than annoy. As Zeke rejoined the other trainers, her pelipper sprayed the moltres with a jet of water, temporarily dousing some of its flames. It shrieked and spat fire at her, which was deflected harmlessly off an invisible wall in front of her. She was laughing as she ordered her pelipper to attack again.

Zeke let Ben's gyarados out. There were a couple of gyarados already out, and some smaller flying-types.

"Stun spore, Butterfree!" a girl yelled, and the bug-type shook its wings, sending a cloud of yellow dust towards the moltres. It burned up before it could make contact, and the moltres didn't even notice. "Sleep powder!" the girl tried, and the same thing happened.

"Water gun," Zeke told Ben's gyarados. Most of the water evaporated en route, and the rest dropped away and missed.

"Pikachu, thunderbolt!" someone yelled. Zeke looked over in time to see everyone scatter. His fearow squawked and dropped, and a wave of flame washed over his head. Above him, Faye was safe behind her pelipper's invisible wall as the moltres filled the sky around her with fire. After a few seconds it stopped, Faye, smirking, attacked it again, and the other trainers regrouped. A couple of them had small electric-types with them.

"Let's try this," Zeke muttered to himself, popping open his voltorb's pokéball. He wrapped his arms around its smooth, round form as it materialised in front of him, and managed to not drop it. His fearow didn't seem to mind the extra weight, but it wasn't easy balancing a voltorb and himself. "This is such a bad idea... Okay, Voltorb, spark!"

... ... ... ...

"This was such a bad idea!" Lily gasped, clutching Ben's waist. Beneath her, his rapidash's muscles bunched and loosened, threatening to jolt her off with every stride. Cool flames tickled her skin through her clothes. It would have been far more comfortable with a saddle, but when, months ago, Ben had bought one, the rapidash had incinerated it.

"Corner!" Ben said over his shoulder. They both leaned into the turn as the rapidash galloped round the corner and nearly ran headlong into a group of pedestrians. It didn't slow down, but leaped into the air, over their heads. Lily felt herself slipping backwards and screamed, holding tighter to Ben. He was trying — and failing — to get a grip on the smooth sides of the rapidash's neck. Then it landed, knocking both its riders forward again, and kept going.

They reached the gym much sooner than they would have on foot. Lily slithered off the rapidash's back, resisted the urge to fall over, and looked around. The main greenhouse was burning, and the fire had spread to some of the smaller buildings. Trainers and pokémon were everywhere fighting it. Erika, her kimono singed and missing a sleeve, and a bandage tied around her arm, was nearby directing the efforts.

"How can we help?" Lily asked her.

"Oh! thank you," Erika said. "If you have a water pokémon, take it over there, please." She pointed. "Ground and rock over there." A young woman tugged at Erika's sleeve, and she turned to speak to her.

"I'll take your onix," Ben said, "if you like. You've got Zeke's blastoise as well as yours?"

She nodded, giving him the onix's pokéball. "Be careful, yeah?"

The water pokémon were mostly fighting the main fire, but the woman organising them sent Lily and her two blastoise to one of the smaller fires. As Lily joined a boy with a starmie and a girl apparently without any pokémon, a ninetales leaped gracefully out of the blaze, holding a scorched and unconscious oddish in its jaws. It dropped the grass-type at the girl's feet and bounded back into the flames. "There's pokémon in there?" Lily cried. "Quick, you two, hydro pump!"

The rock and ground-types were downwind, mostly putting out spotfires. Ben set his onix and Lily's to work helping.

... ... ... ...

Zeke recalled his voltorb. It wasn't helping; it had shocked his fearow twice — fortunately not hard — and the moltres not at all. Ben's gyarados was dutifully squirting away, and the other circling trainers were doing their best, but Faye was still the only one doing any real damage. She'd pulled off her shirt and the tank-top underneath was drenched in sweat but from her expression of glee she seemed to think she was winning. Perhaps she was. With quick and frequent protecting, her pelipper was avoiding almost all of the moltres's attacks.

"You with the gyara!" someone yelled. Zeke turned to see a girl riding a pidgeot, her own gyarados undulating beside her. "We're going up above it," she continued, brushing dark-blond hair out of her eyes. "See if we can rain on it a bit. You with us?"

"Good idea," Zeke called back, signalling his fearow to climb. There were five of them; himself, the blond girl, a boy with another gyarados, a girl with a wingull at her shoulder, and a boy whose charizard was holding a goldeen in its short arms. They had to go quite high — it was far too hot directly above the moltres — and as they finally reached a sufficient height and flew over it, it disappeared.

It was back again a second later, beating its wings and shrieking with rage, and Zeke realised Faye had thrown a pokéball at it. The ball hadn't been anywhere close to catching it, and she didn't try again.

"Ready, everyone?" the blond girl said. "Water gun or whatever, when I say, and we'll hit it all at once. Gyarados, rain dance!" Her gyarados began to coil and twist in the air. Clouds gathered over them, thick and dark. "Now!" she shouted as the first drops of rain began to fall.

The water-types all poured water down on the moltres, taking it completely by surprise. It shuddered, its flames hissing, then screeched and shot upward, unbelievably fast. The trainers dodged out of its way, but the blond girl's gyarados was too slow, and the moltres bashed it with a powerful wing and raked sharp talons down its body, knocking it out. Its trainer dived after it, fumbling for its pokéball to return it. The other trainers fled, gouts of fire chasing them. When Zeke turned around, the moltres was whirling in the air, its head thrown back to the sky. Bright sun broke through the clouds, which dissipated as quickly and unnaturally as they had formed. The moltres shook itself, flames flaring up as fierce as ever, and it swooped back down to Faye.

... ... ... ...

The fire was out, or almost. A few patches still smouldered fitfully, but it was under control. A third of the main greenhouse had been destroyed, but the rest was fixable, and most of the other buildings had escaped serious damage. Lily recalled her and Zeke's blastoise and went looking for Ben.

The rock-types were knocking down a gutted, smoking building, and holding up a less damaged one. Lily found Ben watching his onix swing its tail at a ruined wall. "Where's mine?" she asked. He pointed. It was one of several pokémon propping up a sagging roof while people ran in and out rescuing expensive-looking equipment.

"Can you see Zeke up there?" Ben said, shading his eyes and tipping his head back to look at the battle far above them.

"I think that's a fearow," Lily said, pointing at a pair of brown wings. "Is that _Faye_, right near the moltres? On the pelipper?"

"I can't see," Ben said. "I hope they're okay."

... ... ... ...

Faye threw another pokéball, but the moltres burned it as it arced through the air. Zeke shook his head. She already had an articuno, why did she want a moltres too?

The articuno.

She'd caught it a couple of days ago, and... How long would it have taken for the moltres to fly here?

"Faye!" he yelled. "Let the articuno go!" She shouted something back, but he couldn't hear what it was over the distance and the roar of the moltres's flames. Something about type-matchups.

The moltres turned its head to blast someone's golbat, and Faye took the chance to throw another pokéball. This one hit, the moltres disappeared, and at the same time Zeke heard a wild shriek and felt a jolt of electricity. He yelped and clutched his fearow's feathers. It jerked underneath him but stayed conscious. Ben's gyarados fainted. Zeke grabbed for its pokéball with tingling fingers and recalled it. He didn't see that Faye's pelipper had also been hit.

The moltres burst back out of the pokéball, its cry mingling with another one, and as the trainers took in the sight of two furious legendaries, a moltres and, now, a zapdos, none of them saw Faye fall.

* * *

><p><em>I don't hold with gendered adjectives.<em>


	3. Chapter 3

Ben, too, was distracted by the appearance of the zapdos, but Lily saw the blue-and-white flying-type go down, and its rider drop out of the sky and into the less-damaged part of the main greenhouse. She grabbed Ben's arm and broke into a run, pulling him along with her. "Come on! Someone's fallen! I think it's Faye!"

As they sprinted into the greenhouse, a group of people and pokémon appeared behind them: some kadabra, lots of xatu, and at their centre a pale young woman with red eyes and straight black hair.

... ... ... ...

Zeke swallowed. Two legendary birds — two! — and they had barely been able to scratch _one_. The birds weren't attacking yet, but they would, and the ten or so trainers who were left couldn't hope to fend them off. They were circling each other, screeching and snapping their beaks. For a moment it seemed like they would fight each other and save everyone else the trouble, but suddenly they broke apart, the moltres dived down on the gym, and the zapdos wheeled to face the trainers, sparking. Out of the corner of his eye, Zeke saw the last gyarados disappear into its pokéball.

For a few seconds more, nobody moved, then the zapdos shot forward. Everyone frantically dodged out of its way. It clawed a golbat, dived after a pidgeot, shot electricity back at a charizard that was shooting fire at it. It was far, far worse than trying to battle the moltres had been.

Just when Zeke was considering throwing in the towel, between desperate dodges and futile attempts to fight back, a dozen xatu joined the battle. In seconds the balance had shifted, as the psychics ran rings around the legendary. It swung its wings and sparked at them, and they dodged almost before it had moved, keeping up their own attacks. It discharged the electricity it had stored in its feathers, and they teleported away, to pop back a second later.

The trainers couldn't do that. Some of them were far enough away that the attack had mostly dissipated. Zeke was not. His fearow took the hit, one hit too many, and fainted. He fell, screaming, but not far. When he looked down, heart pounding, he saw a kadabra below him, its eyes and spoon glowing, holding him and the fearow up.

A calm female voice sounded soundlessly in his head. "Thank you, trainers. We'll take it from here."

... ... ... ...

Faye was lying, unconscious and bloodied, on a pile of clear plastic and smashed trellis. She'd brought part of the roof down with her. By breaking her fall a little, and then itself breaking, it had probably saved her life.

"She's breathing," Lily said with relief. "Quick, go and get help."

Before Ben could go anywhere, a red-and-cream shape passed over the hole in the roof. The moltres swooped back down along the side of the greenhouse, blasting it with fire. The plastic blackened and shrivelled.

"It's attacking the gym again!" Ben cried.

Sudden realisation hit Lily. "No, it's attacking _Faye_! Where's the articuno?"

Faye had lost some of her pokéballs in her fall, but the ultraball was still on her belt. Lily grabbed it and threw it out of the hole in the wall the moltres had melted, as the moltres came around for another pass. The articuno appeared in a flash of white light, surprising the moltres. It stopped with a squawk and hovered. The pokéball bounced back to Lily's hand, and she pressed the three buttons on the inside to deactivate it. The articuno shrieked at the moltres. The moltres clicked its beak. The articuno shrieked again, and the moltres flew away.

Lily expected the articuno to leave too, but it didn't. It turned back to Lily, Ben and Faye and gave them a glare of pure passionate hatred.

"Oops," Lily breathed.

The articuno spread its great translucent wings. The temperature dropped several degrees. Lily dived for cover behind a fallen girder, and Ben ducked behind a broken trellis. The temperature dropped again. Lily put a hand on the girder and peeked over — her arm jerked back reflexively and she yelped with pain. The metal was already freezing, and had frozen to her skin. Shivering, blinking back tears, she tugged at her hand, but it was stuck fast.

It got colder. Ben leaned out from behind his trellis, pulling the greatball off his belt. The articuno's head snapped round and it shot a beam of ice at him, encasing his hand and arm in ice and knocking him down. He didn't get back up.

It got still colder. Lily reached with her left hand for her growlithe's ball, and dropped it from numb fingers. It rolled just out of reach. Sobbing with frustration, she tried to hook it with her foot, but only succeeded in knocking it further away.

And colder still. The articuno made a soft sound, low and soothing. Lily looked up, tears freezing on her cheeks. Its black eyes glittered and it shook its beautiful wings, sending a fine snow drifting to the ground. Faye's lips had turned blue, and Lily couldn't see her breathing. Lily realised that the articuno was trying to kill them, and might very well succeed. She didn't think she wanted to die. She'd never get Erika's badge if she was dead.

She could feel herself drifting away. You weren't supposed to fall asleep, right? She pinched her arm, digging in her nails, but barely felt it. Faye was already asleep, and so was Ben. It seemed a shame, but there didn't seem to be anything she could do.

She heard a roar, and made the great effort to look up. It was a charizard — a charizard was breathing flame at the articuno. It spat ice back, and the charizard faltered, but then electricity joined the flames. With a final furious scream, the articuno leaped into the sky and flew off. Just a little too late, Lily thought vaguely. A magneton drifted past the hole in the greenhouse wall, and she thought she saw someone running after it, but by then the world was dissolving into fog and she didn't see any more.

... ... ... ...

She woke up in hospital. "Lily! How are you feeling?" Zeke was sitting next to the bed.

"Not bad." Her right hand stung, and was wrapped in bandages, but other than that she didn't feel any injuries. "Really good, considering. Where's Ben? Is he okay?"

"He's fine." Zeke moved back to let her see the next bed, where Ben was lying, still asleep.

"What about my pokémon?" Zeke picked up her belt off the bedside table. "I dropped my growlithe, and my onix-"

"They're all there," he said. "It's okay, I checked. What happened?"

"Faye fell into the greenhouse, and we — Is Faye okay? Do you know?"

Zeke shrugged. "I didn't think to ask. What _happened_, Lily?"

Lily told him everything as best she could remember, though she was a little fuzzy towards the end. "How long was I out?"

"A few hours." Zeke looked at his watch. "It's five past two. Oh yeah, I nearly forgot." He took Lily's badge case out of her bag, which was beside the bed. "Open it."

Lily opened the case. Six badges glinted at her. She pulled one out. "This is the Rainbow Badge. When did I win this?"

"Erika gave her badge to everyone who helped out. She's closing the gym while they fix it, so nobody's going to be winning it for a while."

A little later, Ben woke up, and shortly after that a nurse came to check on them. When he'd finished telling Ben to keep his arm elevated, Lily asked him about Faye. "She probably came in with us. Fell through a building?"

"Oh, her," he said. "I think she's still under from surgery."

"Is she okay?"

"She will be. She didn't get off as lightly as you two."

"How long do we have to be here?" Ben said.

"At least overnight," the nurse said, "but you should be fine to leave in the morning."

Later in the day, he stuck his head back in. "Your friend's awake. She's three doors down, if you want to see her."

Faye, wearing a lot of casts and bandages, was sitting up in bed watching TV. The gym was still all over the news. "Was this my fault?"

"Um..." Lily said.

"How are you doing?" Ben said.

"I broke a leg, a wrist and a few ribs, I cracked a vertebra, and there's a few other things I can't remember, but I survived. Actually, I feel great. It might be the painkillers."

"I released your articuno," Lily said. "I'm sorry."

"That was you?" Faye said. "Thanks, I guess. They said-" She waved at the TV. "-that was when the other two left." She looked away. "I'm such an idiot, aren't I?"

"What do you mean?" Zeke said.

"I should have realised if one of them was there, the other one would show up, and I was still flying around on a bloody water-type. And... you know. Everyone told me I didn't know what I was doing."

"Hey." Lily sat down on the end of the bed. "You didn't realise-"

"I had no idea," Faye said flatly. She cracked a smile. "I guess I'll have to find another way to beat the gym. I might even be walking by the time it's open again. Want to sign my leg?" They all signed her cast for her, Lily a little awkwardly. "What else happened while I was unconscious?"

Lily was halfway through her explanation when there was a knock at the door. It was Erika, neat and tidy again, and Sabrina. "Hi," Erika said. "We'd like to talk to Faye."

"In private," Sabrina added.

"Oh, okay," Zeke said. "We'll see you later, Faye."

Faye gave them a little wave as they stepped past the gym leaders. Erika took the chair beside the bed. Sabrina looked at the door and it swung closed.

"We should go," Ben said quietly. "I don't think she wants us to hear her getting her head bitten off."

Zeke looked at his watch. "_I_ should go. I'll meet you at the pokémon centre tomorrow?"

"I know you're still there," said the soundless voice in their heads.

"Um, okay," Lily said to Zeke. "See you tomorrow." They left in opposite directions.

* * *

><p><em>Thanks to Gen, my beta, for pointing out some things I'd missed; to my brother, for suffering through my terrible handwriting to be my test audience and primary chivvier; and to Farla, who inspired this story and whose NaRe encouraged me to actually finish it.<em>  
><em>And to you, I suppose, for reading this far. I wouldn't have bothered if it wasn't for you.<em>


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